Background

The State of Palestine consists of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), including Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Two Palestinian factions exercise authority within the OPT, the Fatah-led government in the West Bank and the government of Hamas in Gaza. In November 2012, the UN General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member observer state. Under its previous UN status designation as a “non-member entity,” Palestine was not able to accede to the convention.

Policy

According to the CMC, in June 2014 a government representative confirmed Palestine intends to join Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1] Previously, official representatives had informed the CMC that Palestine would likely join the convention once it has achieved full legal status with the UN.[2]

Palestine did not participate in any meetings of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In June 2010, Palestine attended its first convention-related meeting when it participated in an international meeting on cluster munitions held in Santiago, Chile.

Since 2010, Palestine has participated in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions as an observer. It attended the convention’s Meeting of States Parties in 2010, 2011, and the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Palestine participated in the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2013 and April 2014.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In November 2010, a government representative informed the Monitor that Palestine does not possess any cluster munitions and that there had never been any use of cluster munitions in the OPT by Israeli forces.[3]